Clemson WR Cornell Powell: 'Next Goal To Win ACC'

Clemson dropped a heartbreaker 47-40 in double overtime to Notre Dame on Saturday night but fifth-year senior Cornell Powell says all the teams goals are still there for the taking.

While Clemson might have dropped its first regular season game since 2017, all of the teams goals for the season are still there for the taking. 

The Tigers 47-40 double overtime loss to Notre Dame on Saturday is just a minor setback in the grand scheme of things and while extremely disappointing, the team still has a clear path to the ACC Championship Game and a possible sixth straight berth in the College Football Playoff. 

Fifth-year receiver Cornell Powell, who set a career high with 161 receiving yards against the Irish, says the team now needs to regroup over the bye week, focus on themselves, and then everything else will take care of itself.

"We're really just focused on Clemson, man," Powell said. "You know, taking it one week at a time. And and all of our goals are right there in front of us still. Our next goal is to win the ACC. And whoever we happen to play, then we will be ready for them. So we're really just focused on Clemson and just trying to get better each and every day."

Powell says it is imperative that the team just go back to work. That the practice field is where games are won and lost and where the real success is determined. 

"You really win and succeed on Saturdays throughout the week, Monday through Friday," Powell said. "That's when the work is really put in and really done."

There are many ways one could describe the type of loss the Tigers suffered in South Bend. Heartbreaking was one of the more popular terms used on Sunday. However, Powell says that a loss is a loss, regardless of how close it was and that the Tigers will now go to work on correcting any mistakes to ensure they learn from the setback. 

"Whenever you lose you know, they they hurt just the same," Powell said. "You know it's a loss. Regardless if it's by one or 99 points, it's not really a big difference. There's definitely a lot of guys clearly disappointed in our loss and we are just ready to come in here and get back to the drawing board and figure out where we went wrong, what we can do better, and move on to the next week."